Well strainer and process of making it



y 0, 1939. R. E. SWANSON WELL ST RAINER AND PROCESS OF MAKING IT Filed Oct. 2, 1957 INVENTOR. 1: Evy/701m f. Sara/v50,

ATTORNEY}.

Patented May 30, 1939 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE WELL STRAINER. AND PROCESS OF MAKINGIT- Raymond E. Swanson, Lawrenceburg, 11111., as-

' signor to A. D. Cook, Inc., 'Lawrenceburg, Ind.,

" aco'i'poration of Indiana Application October 2, 1937, Serial No. 167,030

" r iCl'aims. (c1. 29--163.5)

My invention relates to well strainers, and particularly to that type of well strainer which is formed by a wire helically wound upon an annular series of longitudinally extending supporting bars. In strainers of this type the openings through which the liquid passes are in the form of slots created by spaces between adjacent turns of the wire,'and the wire is formed 7 with sides which converge inwardly of the strainer so as to create strainer-slots which are of minimum width at the outer surface of the strainer.

In strainers of. this typeylargely because of the inwardly converging sides of the wire, some difficulty has been experienced in forming a satis-. factory joint at the points where thehelically wound wire crosses the longitudinal supporting'bars.

Methods commonly used for securing the wire to the longitudinal bars comprise notchingthe bars, depositing the wire in the notches as it is helically wound, and then calking the metal of the bars to displace it either over the outer surface of the wire or into a continuous groove extending longitudinally of the wire along. one side thereof. The former method has the disadvantage that the'bars areunduly weakened if notched to a depth sufficient to, provide between the notches an adequateamount of metal for satisfactory calking; While the second method is objectionable in that the re-entrant grooves in the wire either are of insufficient depth to result in a strong calked joint or are so deep as to weaken the wire unduly.

It is the object of my invention to produce a well strainer of the type mentioned which will be free from the disadvantages noted above.

More specifically, it is my object to form a well' strainer in which the wire will be held in place on the supporting rods by calked joints produced without unduly weakening either the wire or 40 the rods which support it.

In carrying out my invention, I notchthe two outer edges of the wire at the point where itcrosses each of the supporting bars, such notches being so shaped that their bottoms, in general, converge outwardly of the strainer. The longitudinal supporting bars are also provided with notches shaped to receive the notched portions of the wire, the notches in the bars being of such a depth that the outer surface of the wire is, at most, only a slight distance below the outer surface of the bars. After the wire has been wound on the bars with its notched portions received in the notchesof the. bars, the Y material of the bars between adjacent notches 55 therein is calked or displaced into the notches in the wire. Because the bottoms of the notches in the wire converge outwardly, this displacement of the metal forms a dove-tail joint which holds the Wire firmly in place.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention: Fig. 1 is a fragmental side elevation of a portion of the body of a Well strainer; Fig. 2 is a fragmental transverse section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmental longitudinal section on the line3-3 of Fig. 2, on a larger scale; Fig. 4 is a fragmental elevation of the notched wire from which the strainer is'wound; and Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. l.

The strainer illustrated in the drawing comprises an annular series of longitudinally ex-, tending bars it which are notched at intervals for the reception of the helically wound wire i l. The particular wire-illustrated is of triangular section with itsinner edge truncated slightly, as is clear from Fig. 5; but the particular crosssectional shape of the wire is immaterial except for thefact that it is desirable to have its sides converge inwardly to produce strainer slots which have their minimum width at the out-er surface of the strainer. Such slots are not subject to clogging.

At each point where the Wire II crosses the rods I0, its outer edges are provided with opposed notches I3 and I3. As shown in the drawing, the notches have plane bottom surfaces I4 which converge outwardly, as is clear from Fig. 3.

The shape of the notches, however, may be varied to some extent, the only requirement being that in the plane of each pair of notches the wire H is narrower at the surface of the bar in than it is at some point spaced inwardly from such surface.

The notches I 2 in the rods Ill are shaped to receive closely the notched portions of the wire H and desirably have a depth slightly greater than the radial thickness of the wire. As is clear from Fig. 3, the sides of each notch I2 are substantially parallel near the outer surface of the rod I0, but below such parallel portions the sides of the notches l2 converge inwardly in conformity to the inwardly converging sides of the wire.

In constructing the strainer, the bars H] are supported in proper relation in any suitable manner,'and the wire I I is wound with those portions which areof reduced cross-sectional area by reason of the notches I3 deposited in the notches l2 of the bars. Following the winding of the wire, the material between adjacent notches I2 is calked or displaced longitudinally of said rods to form lugs extending into the notches l3 of the wire, as indicated at the right in Fig. 3. Desirably, the calking operation is performed as the wire is wound, the strainer being fed longitudinally relatively to a support in the form of a rotatable disk 20 having in its periphery an annular series of notches for the reception of the bars It. The calking operation may be performed by a calking roll or by a series of calking rollers disposed in the plane of the support 28. As shown in the drawing, two calking rollers 2! and 22 are employed, the roll 2| being relatively narrow and serving to groove the tongue of metal between adjacent notches 12 in the bar l and the roll 22 having a cylindrical surface which completes the calking operation and, desirably, finishes the calked tongue-metal flush with the outer surface of the wire H.

It is to be noted that my improved method of securing the wire II to the bars Iil leaves the wire of full-cross section between the bars and, at the same time, avoids notching the bars to the depth which would be necessary in the absence of the wire-notches l3. Further, since the calked metal of the bars may be finished substantially flush with the outer surface of the wire H, the appearance of the strainer is improved.

I claim as my invention:

1. A well strainer, comprising an annular series of longitudinal rods, and a wire helically wound about said series of rods with its outer edges defining restricted strainer openings, each of said rods being provided with a longitudinally extending series of notches in which the respective turns of said wire are received, each of said notches having a depth at least equal to the radial thickness of said wire, said outer wireedges of said wire being provided with transverse notches at points where said wire crosses said rods, and the material of said rods between the notches therein being displaced longitudinally of said rods to form lugs extending into said notches in the Wire.

2. A well strainer, comprising an annular series of longitudinal rods, and a wire helically wound about said series of rods with its outer edges defining resticted strainer openings, each of said rods being provided with a longitudinally extending series of notches in which the respective turns of said wire are received, said outer wireedges being provided with transverse notches at points where said wire crosses said rods, and the material of said rods between the notches therein being displaced longitudinally of said rods to form lugs extending into said notches in the wire.

3. A well strainer, comprising an annular series of longitudinal rods, and a wire helically wound about said series of rods with its outer edges defining restricted strainer openings, each of said rods being provided with a longitudinally extending series of notches in which the respective turns of said wire are received, each of said notches having a depth'at least equal to the radial thickness of said wire, at least one of said outer wireedges being provided with transverse notches at points where said wire crosses said rods, and the material of said rods between the notches therein being displaced longitudinally of said rods to form lugs extending into said notches in the wire.

4. A well strainer, comprising an annular series of longitudinal rods, and a wire helically wound about said Series of rods with its outer edges defining restricted strainer openings, each of said rods being provided with a longitudinally extending series of notches in which the respective turns of said wire are received, at least one of said outer wire-edges being provided with transverse notches at points where said wire crosses said rods, and the material of said rods between the notches therein being displaced longitudinally of said rods to form lugs extending into said notches in the wire.

5. In a process of forming a well strainer cornprisng an annular series of longitudinal rods and a helically wound wire deposited in notches in said rods, the steps of notching the outer edges of said wire with transverse notches at points to be received in the notches in said rods, progressively depositing the notched portions of the wire in the notches in the rods, and progressiveiy displacing the material of theorods longitudinally of of the rods and into the notches in the wire.

6. In a process of forming a well strainer comprisng an annular series of longitudinal rods and a helically wound wire deposited in notches in said rods, the steps of notching one outer edge of said wire with transverse notches at points to be received in the notches in said rods, progressively depositing the notched portions of the wire in the notches in the rods, and progressively displacing the material of the rods longitudinally of the rods and into the notches in the wire.

RAYMOND E. SWANSON. 

